"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." Issac Newton 1657
Longstanding former President and newsletter editor Shane Sody recently stepped down because of health problems. This article pays tribute to his remarkable legacy.
Under an exciting new President and a skilled and hard-working Committee the Adelaide Park Lands Association has suddenly, explosively grown into leading Statewide protection efforts for your Open, Green Public Park Lands, standing in opposition to Government attacks on hundreds of trees.
But we all know the foundations of this sudden influence were laid over years of stubborn hard work by former President Shane Sody.
Recently some health challenges forced Shane to accelerate his plans to hand over the reins to a new generation.
Shane was a man who has spent so many years defending your Adelaide Park Lands that people probably thought he lived in them. And to be fair, given the number of kilometres he cycled through them each year, and all the time leading Guided Walks, it is possible he spent more time there than at home.
Shane’s advocacy career has been long, loud, and occasionally embarrassing for Governments who thought they could quietly nibble away at your Park Lands without him noticing. They were wrong. Shane noticed everything.
His interviews over the years have revealed a man of principle, passion, and a truly impressive ability to explain complex planning issues. He fought for your Park Lands with the tenacity of a terrier.
His legacy includes hundreds of issues of this newsletter, dozens of Park Lands videos; overseeing the process of modernising and crystallising the branding of the Association; establishing (and for years, leading) the program of Guided Walks that is such a feature of your Park Lands; establishing a remarkable communications infrastructure that is the basis of our Stop the Chop Campaign today; and above all, instilling a stubborn fighting spirit.
Shane Sody has made a remarkable contribution to Adelaide’s civic life. When the State Government belatedly protects your Park Lands, future children will play under great spreading trees in expanses of Park Lands that were saved because of Shane.
